Here is a bit of a teaser from the Rob Teirney Frount of House Manager for Short and Sweet.

"We are all really excited about the upcoming season. We had a record number of plays to chose from...and a huge amount of interest from directors and of course actors banging down the door to be involved. The season is looking really strong over all four weeks. Those of you who were involved with last years program will remember (hopefully) it being a really enjoyable, productive time...and we are expecting more of the same with even bigger houses. Short and Sweet 2003 looks like being an amazing season."

Short & Sweet

354 King Street Newtown

Week 1: Jan 8 - Jan 12

Week 2: Jan 15 - Jan 19

Week 3: Jan 22 - Jan 26

Week 4: Jan 29 - Feb 2

Showtime: Wed-Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm

Tickets: $25, $20 Conc. Phone booking fee applies.

Bookings: 02 9519 5081

Info: info@newtowntheatre.com.au

MEDIA RELEASE

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SHORT & SWEET – THE TROPFEST OF THEATRE

40 writers, 40 directors and 140 actors get together in January for the biggest little theatre festival in the world. 10 different works each week!

Building on the incredible success of last year’s event – the Newtown Theatre will serve up an even more sumptuous banquet of theatrical delight with Short & Sweet in January.

With over 200 participants the popular annual event showcases a dazzling and diverse array of talented actors, writers, directors & designers – from seasoned professionals to enthusiastic rookies.

“We had quite a number of international plays submitted this year", said Artistic Director Mark Cleary. “But have in the main we’ve selected Australian work Short & Sweet was established to benefit Australian theatre, not American, Armenian or Angolan.”

“From 250 submissions it was a matter of distilling the list down to the forty or so hilarious, sexy, tragic or bizarre works that made the program,” he said.

According to coordinator Regina Botros the plays were assessed by a “number of hard working ‘readers’ who did their best to sort the wheat from the chaff.”

“The culled list was sent out in bunches to the directors who got a chance to pick something that resonated. Each work was given an equal chance to find a director, consequently we have a season covering many themes and catering to many tastes,” she said.

More than 300 actors auditioned for the multitude of roles on offer in what must be the most daunting audition process in Sydney. A darkened theatre with over 30 directors staring at them! Needless to say, talent arises to such occasions and S&S has it in spades.

Writer, director Sam Genocchio believes the beauty of Short & Sweet is that it allows the participants to explore the concept of theatrical space. “People are saying the only interesting productions are coming from the independent ranks Short and Sweet is the voice of the next generation of Australian Theatre.”

“Short & Sweet - The Tropfest of theatre” SMH January 2002

With funding from the AFTRS, the connections to short film festivals are apparent. It doesn’t matter how good the camera work or production values of a short film are, if you don’t have a good story and good actors it won’t work. Short and Sweet is where these fundamentals can and will be applied. info@newtowntheatre.com.au